Are straight horizons overrated?

[Gary A.]

 

[gsgary]

Migrant mother was a set up the children were not her children
Dorothea Lange shot it in 1935 at Nipomo California for the FSA
I prefer John Vachon's Children of farmer in Ozarks Missouri 1940

Relevance?

She was shooting for the FSA documenting the great depression

 

[photoguy99]

So... Not relevant at all is what you're saying?

 

[bogeyguy]

Over rated, of course, that's why we have necks.

 

[bribrius]

Over rated, of course, that's why we have necks.

well, now that you mention it. Do we always look at things with our head perfectly level? I think not.

 

[480sparky]

Migrant mother was a set up the children were not her children
Dorothea Lange shot it in 1935 at Nipomo California for the FSA
I prefer John Vachon's Children of farmer in Ozarks Missouri 1940

Relevance?

She was shooting for the FSA documenting the great depression

I'm not seeing the connection. I must be missing something.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I don't think straight horizons are overrated; if anything tilt seems to be getting overused. I think it's a basic skill in using a camera to hold it straight and frame shots to make sure everything's straight that should be. Like a lot of effects, tilt's better used sparingly and for a specific reason.

Looking closer I did see a break in the horizon line so it might not actually be perfectly straight, but I think a long horizontal line across a photo is noticeable if it's not straight. Technical aspects if not done well can distract from the composition and artistic aspects.

The perspective overall is unusual, it did make for an interesting photo. What I disliked more was the grayness to it, I read it was shot in infrared but it didn't look like it to me. Although reading the description helped make sense of how it was shot.

I'm not sure that the title Migrant Mother was meant to mean that the woman photographed was pictured with her children, but more that she represented mothers at migrant workers' camps. There was recently a special on PBS about Dorothea Lange; she had been out taking pictures that day, passed that camp, and turned around and went back. She interacted with the people and I think that's how she got some of the photos she did.
.

 

[photoguy99]

Those are her children, anyways. gsgary's just posturing.

 

[Josh66]

It becomes a weirdly different photo if you straighten it out. A photo that feels far lesser.

You're joking, right?

I might not have noticed that it wasn't straight right away, but I can't really see any way that straightening it would detract from it.

 

[photoguy99]

Certainly not. I think it's a completely different and much better photo with the horizon as it is

 

[manaheim]

I can't even tell which of you is arguing with who.

The whole argument is kind of stupid. There isn't a book that details what is right and wrong in photography, and therefore there is no one conclusion that is valid.

Tilts are fine, or they're not... but only as far as what you decide to hang on YOUR wall. Anything else is not up to you.

 

[imagemaker46]

Whatever makes the image look right in the shooters eyes is all that matters, it's the same with crops. If the image looks great as a square or tall and thin, then crop it that way. If the horizon line is off then leave it. As I wrote earlier in this thread, it all depends on what is being shot. If it's a sport being played on a flat straight surface, then keep it straight. If it's a long water horizon line, same thing. But in every case there will always be exceptions.

 

[BillM]

It looks straight to me, i think you are all a little off center


Seriously, life is short, go take some pictures.